Indoor/outdoor music venue revealed as Phase One for Newport's Ovation project

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Artist's rendering of the Ovation concert facility.

The curtain was pulled back this week to reveal the first phase of Newport's much-anticipated Ovation development. By the end of 2020, music fans could be enjoying shows in a new indoor/outdoor concert facility.

Corporex Companies and AEG Presents / PromoWest, announced Thursday that they have reached agreement for Corporex to construct a world class music venue on a riverfront site in Newport, Ky. The announcement came as part of a ceremony with local officials that took place this morning on the future site of the facility. The venue will be part of the first phase of the Ovation development, a 25-acre mixed use development located on the Ohio River across from downtown Cincinnati. Site preparations are beginning immediately with full construction commencing once final building permits are secured.

With more than 180 events a year, the ground-breaking design will accommodate indoor audiences of up to 2,700 and an outdoor capacity for the summer shows of up to 7,000 concert goers. The facility is expected to attract over 350,000 to 400,000 fans annually to this intimate music setting. The concert hall, with its unique sweeping roof design, will sit atop a 550-car structured parking garage. The Venue Plaza will be linked to the future phases of the Ovation development via a pedestrian walkway over the recently opened Route 9 extension. The pedestrian bridge will be linked to the restaurants, night life and other entertainment spots that will make up the main pedestrian streets dubbed Broadway and Main Streets within the mixed-use Ovation development.

According to Tom Banta, Managing Director of Corporex Companies, LLC, “We began working with Scott Stienecker, CEO of PromoWest, more than a year ago, with a goal of securing an entertainment venue that would be a centerpiece to the Ovation development. During the course of our negotiations, PromoWest was acquired by AEG Presents, one of the largest live music companies in the world. We are delighted to now be working with two best-in-class live music promoters attracting both regional and national talent”.

“The Newport location provides AEG/PromoWest the perfect opportunity to expand our Midwest presence to the Cincinnati marketplace,” said Scott Stienecker, CEO of PromoWest. “We intend to bring many of the same groups that play at our EXPRESS LIVE! in Columbus, Ohio, and STAGE AE in Pittsburgh, Pa. to Greater Cincinnati.”

“The Ovation development is exciting on many levels,” says Shawn Trell, chief operating officer for AEG Presents. “At its core, it represents a marriage between a first-class developer and a first-class content provider and venue operator. The venue design and capabilities fill a void in the market and are a natural fit with our venues in Columbus and Pittsburgh as well as other properties we own or operate in Cleveland and Detroit. We look forward to working with the Corporex team to make this venue a reality. I know it will be one that artists and music fans will enjoy tremendously, and that the region will be proud to call its own.”

“We truly appreciate the effort and thought that Corporex and AEG have put into this project,” says Thomas Fromme, Newport City Manager. “The City of Newport eagerly looks forward to working with these great companies as they start the first phase of Ovation,” added Newport City Mayor Jerry Peluso.

As a Cincinnatian for almost all his life, Carey Hoffman has written about numerous subjects involving almost every Greater Cincinnati neighborhood. He enjoys history — both local and beyond — reading, anything to do with golf, most things related to basketball, and all things that make Cincinnati a more interesting and better place.